Symphony of the forest

Admitted at age 13 to the Paris Conservatory, she stayed only briefly, discouraged by the institution’s rigid formalism. Instead, she studied harmony and composition privately. Her highly personal musical language was influenced in part by César Franck, though the modernist impulses in her work often aligned her with the Impressionists. 

The first public performances of her works took place in 1884, when Camille Saint-Saëns himself presented her Piano Trio at the Société Nationale. The following year, her Mass for Six Voices, Orchestra, and Organ was performed in Paris, Rennes, and Chartres. Around the same time, she composed a dramatic symphony on the subject of Joan of Arc for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. In 1888, she married naval officer Émile Strohl, whose name she kept, and later, in a second marriage, the master glassmaker Richard Burgsthal. With his support and that of several patrons, she founded the Théâtre de La Grange in 1912, where she staged her own lyrical works steeped in mysticism and symbolism, two artistic currents then in vogue. Her output also reflects a variety of religious and spiritual influences, including Hindu and Celtic cycles, and even a form of pantheism, as in her Symphony of the Forest and Symphony of the Sea. 

Strohl left an impressive catalogue of orchestral works, chamber music, piano pieces, and vocal works. During her lifetime, she enjoyed not only encouragement but also the esteem of illustrious contemporaries such as Saint-Saëns, Chausson, d’Indy, and Fauré. Yet her status as a woman, her independent spirit, particularly regarding the musical establishment and Parisian salons, and the limited dissemination of her music likely contributed to her increasing isolation. After retiring to Provence in 1930, she died in 1941, completely forgotten. 

Composed in 1901, the Symphony of the Forest stands out for its monumental proportions and its wealth of inspiration, bringing it close to the tone poem. Although it has no explicit program, the music is highly evocative, sometimes descriptive in an Impressionist manner, achieving a surprising expressive power for its time. L’Étang (The Pond) evokes the murmurs of the forest through lush orchestral colors and Debussy-like harmonies. In L’Âme en peine (The Tormented Soul), the weight of emotion is conveyed through a dense atmosphere and harmonies clearly indebted to Wagner and Franck, lending the movement striking intensity. A quasi-miniature, Marche funèbre d’un scarabée (Funeral March of a Beetle) is pastoral in character, emphasized by the prominence of the woodwinds. Its enigmatic quality is heightened by repeated appearances of the Dies irae theme (medieval hymn for the dead), presented in various guises. Finally, Chasse à l’aurore – Aurore et lever de soleil (Dawn Hunt – Dawn and Sunrise) depicts a morning hunt: distant horn calls followed by galloping hooves launch the music into a vigorous chase. The sunrise unfolds in a vast crescendo, displaying orchestral power and splendor of decidedly modern character. The symphony ends cyclically, recalling melodic material from the first movement.